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Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Recipe for Chicken Adobo (Chicken Cooked in Soy Sauce and Vinegar)

Authentic Chicken Adobo would use bone-in chicken thighs, but this version was still very tasty.

(Updated September 2011) Chicken Adobo is the national dish of the Philipines, and it's traditionally made with a whole chicken or bone-in chicken legs and thighs. The chicken is simmered in the Adobo mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, water, garlic, bay leaves, onions, and pepper, and then usually broiled or pan-fried. Back in 2005 I tried my hand at making Chicken Adobo, using the recipe from Mark Bittman's The Best Recipes in the World and some advice I'd gotten from other food bloggers. That recipe was long overdue for a photo make-over, and I wanted to see if I could make this dish a little more diet legal for South Beach Dieters, so I tried making it with skinless, boneless chicken breasts. If you make this with chicken breasts, definitely you need to be careful not to cook it too long or use heat that's too high, but the new version was really quite tasty.

Since I didn't want the chicken breasts to dry out, I barely browned it in a pan rather than broiling it like my old recipe called for. I'll leave the printer friendly recipe link here for the original recipe in case someone has it bookmarked, but here's my new version of Chicken Adobo.

I used four chicken breasts, and cut each one in half into two same-size pieces.

Use a pan where all the chicken pieces will fit tightly in a single layer.

Trim fat and any unwanted parts from chicken breasts, then cut each in half diagonally to make two same-size pieces. Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, water, garlic, bay leaves, onion, pepper, and ground Chipotle pepper (if using) to make the Adobo mixture.

Put chicken in single layer in heavy frying pan just large enough to hold all the chicken. Pour the Adobo mixture over and cook 10 minutes at the lowest possible simmer. Then turn chicken pieces over and cook 10-15 minutes more (just until the chicken is barely cooked through.)

Strain liquid to remove onion pieces and bay leaves. I used a fat separator (like a pitcher where the spout comes from the bottom) with a yogurt strainer on top. Put the strained sauce in a small pan and boil to reduce it until the sauce is thick enough to barely coat your spoon. (Taste to see when it tastes good so it doesn't get too strong.)

Heat the olive oil in a heavy frying pan, add the chicken pieces and very quickly brown on one side (again being careful not to cook too long.) Serve the browned chicken with some of the sauce spooned over.

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I happen to check Mae's link so I'm visiting your site! Your chicken adobo looks beautiful and appetizing. That’s the good thing about adobo, same ingredients but different way of cooking it! I will try yours next time.

I know this is a blast from the past, but I found it via the Phase One collection you recently compiled.

I just make this last night and it was absolutely delicious! My ONE thought was that the sauce, once reduced, was very, very salty. Not inedibly so (we chowed down happily anyway), but perhaps using a low-sodium soy sauce/tamari would yield an even better result?

This was so good I plan to make it again soon, so I'll get some low-sodium tamari and report back!

Anne, thanks for the suggestion, which I think is brilliant. I'm going to edit the post and add it. (And quite honestly, I haven't made this for so long that I don't remember if it seemed salty to me!)

I am a regular reader and I find your South Beach suggestions to be particularly helpful.

Some suggestions on the adobo recipe...if you want your adobo to be closer in taste to the traditional one, use cider vinegar as the Filipino adobo uses palm vinegar which is very sour. However, the sourness dissipates after cooking it for sometime. Also, the traditional adobo does not use soy sauce and the addition of soy sauce is a recent innovation. Without the soy sauce, the adobo sauce turns brown from the frying of the meat. The soy sauce is used basically just for the color and for a touch of saltiness. I suggest decreasing the proportion to about 1/2 soy sauce for every unit of vinegar. I am sorry I cannot be precise as I never measure my ingredients when I prepare this dish. Also, you may want to omit the onions as these can alter the taste from the traditional.

Kalyn, this chicken dish looks incredible! I've always been amazed at what either vinegar (I have a vinegar, oil, and seasonings slow cooked turkey/chicken recipe we crave) or soy can do with recipes. But together? Intrigued to say the least. I've only heard of Adobo seasoning before, not an Adobo recipe, but sometimes I'm not up on all the classic dishes. ;-) Can't wait to make this one and will share it with others, too!

cwid, I did realize that this wasn't an authentic Adobo recipe but it was tasty. Interesting to hear your comments about how it could be made more authentic. From what I've read, even among Filipinos there are many variations of the dish.

Sangeeta, hope you enjoy it!

TW, how fun getting a new pan! I have a LeCreuset saucier that I love!

Shirley now I'm going to your blog to look for that slow cooker recipe.

I'm such a dork. I thought that Adobo sauce was Adobe sauce and that it was a Mexican dish. Now that I write this down, It really sounds stupid. The recipe looks great and I need more chicken recipes so I will be making this soon. Thanks.

My grandfather was Filipino, and this has always been one of my favorite meals! My grandmother and mom always used chicken thighs, but I have been using chicken breasts for years when I make mine. The pictures look so yummy--I can almost taste it!

So nice to see a Filipino dish here Kalyn! Adobo is great in such that you can really adapt it to different tastes and versions...you can even do it with vegetables (long beans and kang kong/water spinach are typical ones) :) This one looks great...and healthier too!

I am making this recipe tonight for the first time and I have a question about the step where you "simmer it for 10 minutes" after pouring the sauce on the chicken. You have to bring it to a boil first, right? Then lower to a simmer for 10 minutes?

Thanks for joining the conversation! I love hearing from readers and even though I can't always reply to every comment, I will always answer specific questions on a recipe as soon as possible. Sometimes I'm answering by iPhone, so my replies may be short!

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